Largest annual winter sports event reaches unprecedented level of television broadcasts / Daily viewership breaks record with 82.897 Fans
The 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Cologne / Paris (May 05-21, 2017) achieved a higher audience rating than ever before. The competition was broadcast on TV for more than 8.300 hours, which is almost twice as many as five years ago.
Infront Sports & Media, the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) exclusive media and marketing partner for the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, reported a total viewership of 1,297 billion this year. This is an increase of 36 million compared to the previous year, exceeding the number from five years ago by approximately 30%.
The event was broadcast in a total of 166 countries around the world. SPORT1 achieved a peak of 2,4 million viewers for the decisive group game between Germany and Latvia. This is the highest audience rating that SPORT1 has ever achieved with an ice hockey broadcast.
Enormous spectator numbers in the arenas too
The World Cup not only attracted many viewers to their televisions, but also to the two halls in which the 64 games were played. The six games that took place on May 13.05.17, 82.897 reached a new daily record of 54.699 spectators in the last ten years. The LANXESS arena in Cologne was sold out for all three games, which amounted to 28.198 spectators. The AccorHotels Arena in Paris hosted XNUMX spectators on the same day.
Over the course of the competition, over 686.000 spectators attended the games. This represents the second best value of all time, which is only surpassed by the 2015 World Cup in the Czech Republic. In addition, seven of the ten best-attended games of the last ten years were played in Cologne / Paris. The AccorHotels Arena in Paris also achieved the highest number of spectators ever recorded at a second venue for an IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
IIHF President René Fasel commented: “The IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship is getting stronger and stronger. Every year we can top the previous year's performance again. This is testament to the fast and dramatic nature of the sport. It is also evidence of our successful efforts to bring the event to new audiences.”
Franz Reindl, President of the Organizing Committee 2017 and DEB-President, added: “France and Germany were very happy to co-host the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. The unexpected success of the event makes us very proud.”